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'Oram played fantastically well' - Arthur
An extraordinary hundred from Jacob Oram, and an equally vital fifty from Daniel Vettori, dug New Zealand out of a cavernous hole to give them the most unlikely of leads on the second day of the first Test against South Africa at Centurion
Cricinfo staff
17-Apr-2006
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Micky Arthur, the South African coach, was understandably downcast at the end of the second day's play at Centurion Park, terming it as an "ordinary" one for his side. He hailed New Zealand's fighting spirit and felt that their depth in batting, all the way till No.10, was always going to be an advantage.
"We probably didn't do ourselves any favours after lunch," said Arthur at the end of the day. "We gave the left-handers [Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori] too much width, and let them get away from us. It was pretty disappointing and a pretty ordinary day at the end. At lunch time, we spoke about taking opportunities. We didn't do that against Australia, where we had 50-50 situations, but they took the opportunities better than we did. We wanted to turn that around, and we had them in a precarious position.
Oram and Vettori added 183 for the seventh wicket, helping New Zealand gain a handy 51-run lead. Arthur revealed that South Africa's pressure tactics had worked with New Zealand's top order, but come unstuck when faced with Oram and Vettori. "We planned for that," he said. "We wanted to put the likes of [Stephen] Fleming, [Scott] Styris and [Nathan] Astle under pressure, and we did that nicely - and then Jacob popped up and played fantastically well. And even a guy like [James] Franklin played some fantastic shots. I guess New Zealand are a little like us - they bat all the way down."
Full postGallian leads Notts run spree
Nottinghamshire surged to 471 for 5 on the third day at Lord's, setting MCC 495, before claiming a late wicket
Cricinfo staff
16-Apr-2006
MCC 168 and 24 for 1 (Cook 21*, Loudon 1*) need 471 runs to beat Nottinghamshire 191 and 471 for 5 (Gallian 171, Ealham 112*, Read 110*)
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Scorecard
After two days of bowlers having it all their own way at Lord's the batsman took charge - and in some style. Jason Gallian eased his way to an impressive 171 and Chris Read also notched an accomplished century, but the memorable action came later as Mark Ealham blasted an astonishing 45-ball hundred.
Ealham laid down an early marker for fastest century of the season and in the process gave some severe punishment to Monty Panesar - taking him for 22 in one over - and Rikki Clarke. His unbeaten 112 took just 53 and contained 11 fours and eight sixes as he plundered MCC's attack to all corners.
However, Read will provide the major talking point by picking an opportune moment to strike form with the bat, following a scratchy effort in the first innings, especially with David Graveney in attendance. Steven Davies, MCC's wicketkeeper, has performed encouragingly in this match and the progress of England's keeping options is always followed with interest. Read scored a century on the A tour to West Indies and here passed three figures in the final over before the tea, the seventh ton of his career.
Full postOram's excellence hands New Zealand advantage
An extraordinary hundred from Jacob Oram, and an equally vital fifty from Daniel Vettori, dug New Zealand out of a cavernous hole to give them the most unlikely of leads on the second day of the first Test against South Africa at Centurion
The Bulletin by Will Luke
16-Apr-2006
South Africa 276 and 4 for 0 (Smith 3*, Gibbs 0*) trail New Zealand 327 (Oram 133, Vettori 81, Ntini 5-94) by 47 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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An extraordinary hundred from Jacob Oram, and an equally vital fifty from Daniel Vettori, dug New Zealand out of a cavernous hole to give them the most unlikely of leads on the second day of the first Test against South Africa at Centurion. New Zealand had slipped to 89 for 6, yet by the time stumps were called they had gained a lead of 51 runs, and outplayed the hosts from the most precipitous of positions.
For all its backs-to-the-wall brilliance, Oram's hundred, his third in Tests, was all the more impressive considering this was his comeback game: not since November 2004 had he played a Test. Given his side's perilous situation, and the additional nerves befitting a man who has missed sixteen Tests, any rustiness might have been forgiven. There was none.
Full postWet conditions force abandonment
Wet conditions forced play to be abandoned on the second day but not before Phil Jaques had reached his maiden Test fifty
The Bulletin by Sriram Veera
16-Apr-2006
Australia 151 for 2 (Gillespie 28*, Ponting 19*, Jaques 66) trail Bangladesh 197 by 46 runs
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How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Thunder, lightening and a sharp shower brought an abrupt end to the Australian charge to take control of the second Test. Only 22.4 overs were possible on the second day, during which Australia managed to close in on the meagre Bangladesh first-innings total losing only one more wicket.
Phil Jaques, was the only man to fall, but not before he had reached his maiden Test fifty. Singled out by Steve Waugh as one of Australia's next-generation cricketers, he batted with Waugh-like purposefulness
Jason Gillespie, the night-watchman, combined dour defence with occasional bursts for fours and Ricky Ponting merely carried on from his last innings before weather intervened.
Though the sky cleared up for a while in the afternoon, the umpires found the outfield unfit for play. The match will now start half an hour early for the next days to partially make up for the seven hours that were lost today.
Full postSidebottom leads Notts fightback
Nottinghamshire finished the second day at Lord's on 68 for 3, a lead of 91, after bowling out MCC for 168
Cricinfo staff
15-Apr-2006
Nottinghamshire 191 and 68 for 3 (Gallian 40*, W Smith 1*) lead MCC 168 (Sidebottom 4-42) by 91 runs
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Scorecard
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Ryan Sidebottom started the second day of ball dominating bat by removing
Monty Panesar, the nightwatchman, early to join to his dismissal of
Alastair Cook on the first evening. He added Alex Loudon and Ed Joyce in quick succession and after seven overs - six of which were maidens, he had 4 for 3. Mark Ealham chipped in with Ravinder Bopara, but from 43 for 5 Rikki Clarke and Luke Parker, a young Warwickshire batsman, staged a fightback.
The pair added 57 and hit nine boundaries between them before falling within the space of seven runs to Ealham. Steven Davies, the wicketkeeper, who held four catches on the first day, then launched another counterattack. He cracked eight boundaries in his 37-ball 42 and continued to mark himself down as one to watch this summer. His fun was ended when Greg Smith claimed his first wicket by jagging a ball sharply back into him.
Full postMills and Franklin edge it for New Zealand
South Africa closed the first day at Centurion Park on 266 for 8 after Kyle Mills took four wickets and James Franklin three.
The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan
15-Apr-2006
South Africa 266 for 8 (Boje 20*, Steyn 8*) v New Zealand
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How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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New Zealand's attack was impressive, especially in the way they overcame the loss of Shane Bond to yet another injury before the match, but South Africa's total could yet prove to be about par - the judgment will have to reserved until the Kiwis begin their reply. Given the way that Mills and Chris Martin got the second new ball to bounce and move the New Zealand top order will not have an easy time.
However, Stephen Fleming could not have asked for much more from his bowlers after Graeme Smith opted to bat. The opening overs were well directed from Mills and Franklin, but South Africa weathered the early passage of play and would have been highly satisfied with their lunchtime loss of just the one wicket. Smith and Boeta Dippenaar had settled into their roles and begun to locate the boundary as the New Zealanders appeared low on firepower without Bond.
Full postEmphatic India seal 5-1 series win
Normal service resumed after the blip at Jamshedpur as India completed a 5-1 series victory with an authoritative seven-wicket win in the final one-day international at Indore
The Bulletin by George Binoy
15-Apr-2006
India 289 for 3 (Uthappa 86, Dravid 69, Yuvraj 63*, Raina 53) beat England 288 (Pietersen 64, Collingwood 64, Jones 54, Sreesanth 6-55) by 7 wickets
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How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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India's perfectly planned chase overshadowed England's batsmen who saved their best batting performance for last. Kevin Pietersen began the assault with an ambush that blinded India in minutes. Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones sustained the momentum before going into overdrive in the slog as England finished on 288 with Sreesanth picking up career-best figures of 6 for 55.
If England thought that Dravid and Yuvraj were the key to India's chase, they overlooked Uthappa who went on to make 86, the highest score by an Indian on debut. Dravid and Uthappa took advantage of an inexperienced attack on a placid pitch to give India their first century opening stand of the series.
Full postMCC seamers make strong impression
Nottinghamshire, the defending county champions, made a faltering start to the traditional season-opener at Lord's, being bowled out for 191 in under four hours on a shortened first day
Andrew McGlashan at Lord's
14-Apr-2006
MCC 7 for 1 (Bopara 5*, Panesar 1*) trail Nottinghamshire 191 by 184 runs
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Scorecard
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For most of the morning it appeared that the official start of the season would have to wait another day as heavy drizzle surrounded the ground and even blocked the view of nearby flats. However, shortly after midday spring decided to make an appearance and play started at 2pm, and continued in glorious conditions, with a decent smattering of spectators in the Grandstand and members in the pavilion.
Nottinghamshire start the defence of their Championship title against Yorkshire on Wednesday and Jason Gallian's decision to bat first indicated a desire for his team to get some time in the middle before the real contests begin. They showed early-season rustiness, although better to fail here than against Yorkshire, but MCC's attack made life difficult for the batsmen with all the seamers maintaining a probing length. Bresnan picked up the rewards with three scalps, but Clarke was equally impressive with his first spell of 9-5-14-1, which backed up the progress he made on the A tour of West Indies.
Full postBrilliant Ponting seals the deal
Ricky Ponting held his nerve to take Australia to a three-wicket victory over Bangladesh shortly after lunch on the final day
The Bulletin by Jamie Alter
13-Apr-2006
Australia 269 and 307 for 7 (Ponting 118*, Rafique 4-98 ) beat Bangladesh 427 and 148 by 3 wickets
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How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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In the end, the scorebooks will record that on April 13, 2006 Australia beat Bangladesh by three wickets at Fatullah. But that does little to showcase a thrilling match in which Bangladesh were the dominant side for the better part. On a frenetic fifth afternoon - a day this match was not even supposed to go into - Ricky Ponting's awesome 118 not out sealed a great win but the battle was much, much harder than it seemed.
Those who have followed this match knew that another classic twist was always around the corner as Ponting marched into the nineties. Brett Lee was dimissed for a vital 29 by Mashrafe Mortaza - rewarding his captain's decision to take the new ball - and then Ponting was given a slice of luck that had Bangladesh going into lunch shaking their heads. Shahadat Hossain banged one short, Ponting swiveled into his favourite shot, the ball spiralled high to deep backward square leg where Mortaza dived and dropped a swirling chance. A push through covers for four off Mortaza brought Ponting his sensational hundred and the bowler walked back to his mark knowing that he had dropped the match.
Full postAustralia close in on victory despite Rafique
A match which Australia were expected to wrap inside three days hung in the balance after four, as Bangladesh fought back gallantly after being outplayed for most of the day
The Bulletin by Jamie Alter
12-Apr-2006
Australia 269 and 212 for 4 (Ponting 72*, Hayden 72) require another 95 runs to beat Bangladesh 427 and 148
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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A match which Australia were expected to wrap inside three days hung in the balance after four, as Bangladesh fought back gallantly after being outplayed for most of the day. Chasing 307 for victory, Australia rode on a 109-run second-wicket partnership between Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting to cruise to 173 for 1, before the indefatigable Mohammad Rafique breathed Bangladesh back to life with two late wickets. Ponting, batting with great resolve for an unbeaten 72, kept the fight going for Australia as they finished on 212 for 4, still 95 away from victory.
For much of day, Australia were the rampant side: they allowed Bangladesh's last five wickets to add just 24 more, and then made huge strides towards their target. However, Rafique inspired Bangladesh to believe that the impossible was theirs with two key strikes in the dusk. For the second time running, he removed a clueless Damien Martyn with a gem of a delivery that pitched on middle and leg, turned, and knocked back off stump and then induced the faintest edges off Michael Clarke's bat that Khaled Mashud smartly snapped up.
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